The Super Bowl champions have been schizophrenic, going up and down within games and looking like two different teams at home vs. on the road. They just got Ray Rice on track, and Joe Flacco steps into a favorable duel with Aaron Rodgers. It helps both Rice and Flacco that Clay Matthews is out. What doesn't help Rodgers, however, is the fact that his offensive line must deal with Terrell Suggs and a strong pass defense behind him.

The Packers seemed to right things last week coming out of the bye. But they will play this one without Clay Matthews, their best pass rusher. The Ravens got after the quarterback last week, but this week I think Aaron Rodgers gets the best of that defense. Packers take it on the road.

Statistically, the Ravens and Packers have pretty similar defenses. The Packers defense is ranked fifth in the NFL against the rush, the Ravens defense is ranked sixth. The Ravens give up 245.6 pass yards per game, the Packers give up 288.8. My point here is that if the defenses are somewhat equal, that makes me feel like the winning team will be the one with better quarterback. Packers 31-24 over the Ravens.

MDS’s take: Aaron Rodgers and Joe Flacco both signed enormous contracts this offseason, but only one of them is earning his money. The struggling Ravens’ offense will have a good opportunity to put some points on the board against a Packers defense that’s missing Clay Matthews, but Rodgers will do more damage than Flacco as the Packers win a high-scoring game. MDS’s pick: Packers 31, Ravens 27.

Florio’s take: It’s rock-scissors-paper time in Baltimore, where the Ravens defense is becoming the rock and the Packers’ offensive line is running with scissors. Florio’s pick: Ravens 24, Packers 20.

Time for the Packers to win a road game and start making a move to take charge of the wide-open NFC North. Baltimore has one of the most reliable home-field advantages in the NFL, but I haven't seen enough consistency yet from the Ravens offense to convince me that Joe Flacco will out-gun the steady Aaron Rodgers in one of the marquee games of Week 6.